Book Review: LS65 (Eighties Leeds Series) by Billy Morris

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Billy Morris was born in Leeds in 1966. He left Leeds in the late 1990s and has lived and worked in Europe and USA. He now lives mainly in South East Asia.

He wrote his first book Bournemouth 90 in 2021 and published the sequel, LS92, in 2022. The books form the Eighties Leeds series are dark, crime fiction set against the backdrop of a northern English city trying to reinvent itself, as its once famous football team emerges from a period in the doldrums to reclaim its position at the forefront of European football.

Morris’s third book Birdsong on Holbeck Moor is set during the tumultuous period at the end of the First World War. The Leeds Pals have been decimated at the Somme and the soldiers who survived return to find a city on the grip of a global pandemic, with food rationing, unemployment and a football team facing expulsion from the league due to financial irregularities during the war years. Throw in some corruption, inter-city gang wars and witchcraft and you have the makings of a gritty, Edwardian thriller.

LS65 Review

This fourth book from Billy Morris forms a third part of the Eighties Leeds series, and is a prequel set in 1965. The central focus is the back story of Alan Connolly, one of the main characters in Bournemouth 90 and opens with the teenager arriving in Leeds from Glasgow during the swinging sixties.

What Morris has established through his previous books is a winning formula. And as the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Reassuringly in LS65 readers will find the usual heady mix of dark gritty menace, the underworld, and football set against a convincing background of the time – a culture of coffee bars and clubs, drugs and dance halls, Mods and their mopeds.

Once again the research is spot-on with great detail about the city of Leeds and places still familiar today, but reflecting also many that have long gone, yet synonymous with a city much changed since the sixties.

Additionally, what Morris also demonstrates is his ability to provide a full back story to his characters, that in this instance go a long way to understanding the Alan Connolly that features in Bournemouth 90.

There is also some homage or influence of David Peace’s writing, with the flashback sequences within LS65 reminding this reader of the style adopted in parts of The Damned Utd.

In Bournemouth 90 the football storyline was one of a pivotal moment as Leeds United regained their top division status, leading to them becoming Champions of England once more in 1991/92. In LS65 the football backdrop is once again an important moment in the Club’s history, with the Elland Road team, after only having been promoted the season before, missing out on the First Division title on goal average and then losing in the FA Cup Final 2-1 to Liverpool. However, despite those disappointments in 1965 it was the start of what was to be a Golden Era under Don Revie as Leeds United became one of the best sides in England and Europe.

 

(Publisher: Independently published. September 2023. Paperback: 217 pages)

 

Buy the book here: LS65

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Book Review: League One Leeds – A Journey Through The Abyss by Rocco Dean

I first visited Leeds United’s Elland Road home on 19 September 1970 when they hosted Southampton. A rite of passage allowing me to witness the most successful Leeds side to grace the LS11 turf. An overcast autumn Saturday seeing a John Giles penalty claim both points (spoils for a victory back then) for Don Revie’s warriors in white.

Talking of points, during that decade entertainer Bruce Forsyth spent Saturday evenings advocating (via catchphrase) “Points wins prizes.” Although Leeds managed to lift the Division One trophy twice in that era, too often they just failed to accumulate enough points to prevail as champions in English club football’s foremost league.

Instead, Jim Bowen’s 1970s gameshow catchphrase of “Have a look at what you could have won.”  was too often written on Leeds United’s end of season report card… Oh, and do not get me started on that era’s domestic and European cup finals, times witnessing the club play bridesmaid on more occasions than a Nolan sister.

In a further reference to points, the fifteen deducted from the club for entering administration (in 2007) play a major part in the initial chapter of Rocco Dean’s skilfully documented and absorbing book League One Leeds- A Journey Through the Abyss.

This a journal of the club’s fortunes during an ignominious three seasons in the third tier of English football, between 2007-2010. Revealing the writer’s recollections of that first drop into League One, the Administration process, the team’s galvanisation borne from the point deduction and the subsequent trinity of winters in the abyss.

The author provocatively touching on the enduring admin episode; events sullying an already murky set of circumstances. A plotline seemingly elongated by club chairman Ken Bates’ ‘canniness’ when it came to negotiate recompense for creditors. Cuddly Ken’s opening gambit of offering a pound of Leeds United fans flesh for every pound owed given short shrift by creditors.

A keen supporter, Dean insightfully reminds us of the unsavoury shenanigans surrounding the protracted takeover and attempts at retrieving the docked points as the 2007-2008 season progressed. His book providing an interesting and informative portrayal of Leeds’ plight over three seasons in League One. A period where the side, as usual, encountered capricious fortunes on and off the field. A journal recollecting the serious of key incidents strongly driving the narrative towards eventual redemption… Well, eventual promotion back to the Championship.

Chapters reminding the reader of long forgotten team personnel who shared the odyssey. Players like Kishishev, Da Costa, Westlake, Flo, Carole and Michalik whose names send an ethereal shiver through my spine. A stark time I’d subconsciously shut away in a neurological folder called ‘Kishishev My Arse’.

Reading this book, a catalyst to opening a metaphorical Pandora’s Box, evoking stark recollections into my conscious mind. Re-igniting times which, although galling at that juncture, in hindsight reminding me I did have many good memories between 2007-2010… Not many of them were football related, but I did have some good times!

Seriously, though, the author’s insights proved an engaging read. Amongst the perkier bits, fond recollections raised from reading the names of players who contributed huge amounts towards the clubs rebuild from the ashes.

Witnessing the names Beckford, Becchio, Snodgrass, Delph, Howson, Naylor, Ankagren, Hughes, Prutton, Johnson, Gradel and Kilkenny raising a smile. This band of footballing misfits a mix of academy products and shrewd purchases who all went on to achieve cult status of varying degrees.

The author, as would be expected, addressed the seasons chronologically. Reminding readers of a first season when Leeds fans adopted a chant of “Fifteen points, who give a f*ck? We’re super Leeds and we’re going up.” A defiant message aimed at Football League administrators for their point stealing skulduggery.

As I had younger kids at the time, after a Leeds win, I adopted a sanitised version around the house of ““Fifteen points, who give a flip? We’re super Leeds and we’re going to the Championship… My rubbish defiling of the brisk original made under the guise of responsible parenting. Unsurprisingly my version was not adopted as a tribal calling card by fans on matchday… Or, indeed, my kids.

Anyhow, Dean touches on specific games which were turning points to this rollercoaster trinity of seasons. Not only from a match reporting perspective, but his experiences before, during and after games with buddies.

Amongst his prose, tales of close scrapes with opposition fans at Millwall and Swansea, thoughts on the team being managed by an ex-Chelsea player, and his heightened brio levels with the separate managerial appointments of former Leeds players Gary McAllister (in 2008) and Simon Grayson (in 2009).

In the 2007-2008 season the 15-point deduction depriving Leeds of automatic promotion, along with losing both coach Gus Poyet and later manager Dennis Wise after a wonderful start to the season. A remarkable achievement bearing in mind the side was only thrown together days before the season started because of the late approval for Leeds to leave Administration.

Reading Dean’s evocative journal recalling the League One rollercoaster took me back to a time of many mixed emotions. Double play-off heartache, the stoic team spirit borne from the 15-point deduction, beating Manchester United away in the FA Cup, commentary moved to DAB on Yorkshire Radio commentary and ultimately the joy of promotion back to the Championship.

Amongst the many thoughts taken from Dean’s absorbing book, I left it with the retrospective feeling that perhaps those times weren’t as bad as I originally thought.

One thing for sure is my post-match beer tastes just as appealing after a Leeds United win irrespective the place within the football pyramid… Well, unless I accidentally order a Carling.

Reviewed by Gary Strachan

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. August 2022. Hardcover: 256 pages)

 

Buy the book here: League One Leeds

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LS65 by Billy Morris

It’s Spring 1965, and young Alan Connolly is a man with a plan. Out of jail and out of Glasgow, leaving old wars behind and hoping that the voices in his head allow him to forget the past.

New start, new city. Smart suit, the best scooter and the right connections. LS1 is swinging – Coffee bars and clubs, pills and protection rackets. And at Elland Road, Revie’s United are chasing a league and cup double in their first season back in the top flight.

It’s the right place and the perfect time to build his empire and the only thing that can stop him is his own dangerous ambition and the dark memories that torment him.

(Publisher: Independently published. September 2023. Paperback: 217 pages)

 

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Book Review: The Boy Who Saved Billy Bremner by Nicholas Dean

The successful Don Revie era at Leeds United has been the subject of many books down the years, with the debut novel from Nicholas Dean, The Boy Who Saved Billy Bremner, a new addition to the list.

In this offering the actual events of the 1973/74 First Division season and the Elland Road clubs tilt at the title provide a backdrop and one of the storylines within the book. And whilst the incredible run of 29 games unbeaten at the start of that campaign for Leeds is factually followed within the plot, the other football narrative, the engagement of central character, 14 year old Phillip Knott, with letters to real-life Leeds United captain Billy Bremner, is fictional.

With football very much a backdrop, readers are taken back to 1973 with the focus on the Knott family and their life in Coventry on a rundown housing estate. For people of a certain age, the descriptions of life and attitudes of the early 1970s will be a real trip down memory lane and Dean provides a convincing setting for his characters to inhabit.

Phillip is the central character, and has two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother, all with their own struggles in what is for the most part a challenging home environment. Their mother suffers from depression, which is not helped by her husband whose drinking bouts and violence are a constant dark threat waiting to explode at any moment. However, that is not to say that the book is all doom and gloom and there are moments for humour as well as tenderness and closeness within the Knott family and Phillip’s circle of friends.

The trials and tribulations of the family and Phillip himself, find their way into the letters to the Leeds skipper. And it is an interesting device used by Dean as it allows reflection on events both within the fictional life of the fanatical Leeds fan Phillip and that of Bremner and his Leeds United teammates as they embark on their unbeaten run.

With Leeds first defeat coming in their thirtieth league fixture at Stoke City, and their undefeated record gone, so the book similarly ends. There is a some resolution in the final pages but it left this reader wondering what comes next for Phillip and his family. Indeed is there a second helping continuing the story to come? However, this may be difficult given the struggles Dean had in getting this book to market.

The author was open in his interview with FBR about the struggles of getting his book published and feeling that there was no other option but to go down the independent route. As a result he was honest in accepting that this has resulted in the book, “lacking a professional touch and (containing) a few errors.” Unfortunately one of the curses of self-publication.

This book at 532 pages is a mammoth tome and but for a smaller font would undoubtedly have been pushing possibly 650 pages. The reality is that for all the wonderful detail and description contained within its pages, the professional services of a proof-reader and editor would clearly have benefited the text, especially in the reduction in the overuse of similes. However, this isn’t a criticism of the book but is a further example that independent writers can be victims of their own circumstances when not supported by a publisher and the services they commsnd.

Despite all this, there is much to admire about The Boy Who Saved Billy Bremner, and for this reader Dean has achieved what he set out to do in , “people liking the book”.

(Publisher: Independently published. July 2022. Paperback: 532 pages)

 

Buy the book here: The Boy Who Saved Billy Bremner

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Interview with Nicholas Dean author of ‘The Boy Who Saved Billy Bremner’.

The Boy Who Saved Billy Bremner is the debut novel from Nicholas Dean. Ahead of FBR’s review of the book we caught up with the author to get the lowdown on this intriguingly titled book.

FBR: What was inspiration for book?

Nicholas Dean (ND): I guess, it came from my own upbringing. Obviously the streets and other locations in the book are both real and this extends to a number of the people such as some of the teachers and the owner of the newsagents. Also part of the inspiration and driving forces behind the book were my age and my children. As I have grown older, I have found myself reminiscing more about my childhood and where I grew up and as my children have asked about me growing up, the more the desire and need to capture those days and the people also grew. I have had the actual idea for the main storyline for a while but other plots seemed to develop and take on a life of their own, some of the characters too, such as ‘Snowy Vest’ for example.

FBR: Given that you had said the book has aspects of your childhood within the storylines, how much of the book is biographical?

ND: There are clearly certain biographical aspects and events within the book. Like they say, a writer writes about what they know about. The school friends and the group of kids on the estate are a mishmash of real people, including myself and some events such as the game in the French lesson and the snowball fight are based on real events, but the main narratives and majority of characters are fictitious

FBR: What is your first football memory and who do you support?

ND: As anyone might guess from the title of the book, I am a Leeds United supporter and how I became to support the team from Elland Road is rather similar to the central character Phillip Knott,  in the book, only a few years later, around when the book is set. My family were from other areas of the UK – dad was from North East (Middlesbrough) and my mum from Herefordshire, so I did not have a direct connection to Coventry, although I was born there. My earliest football memories are the 1972 and 1973 FA Cup finals and of course Leeds United’s 29 game unbeaten run in the 1973-74 season. A run which I feel does not get the recognition it deserves. Another massive footballing memory from that period is watching the 1974 World Cup held in West Germany on the TV.

FBR: The Leeds and Scotland skipper Billy Bremner features not only in the title of the book but in its pages itself. Did you actually write to him, and if not how did the idea come about?

ND: The letter writing is all fictional. I remember the unbeaten run and the eventual loss at Stoke vividly for different reasons and had always had an idea to try and write about it in some way. How the eventual idea formed? To be honest, I am not sure. I guess, it was one of those eureka moments when I thought wouldn’t it be a good idea if I did this. Then I had to think about the issues Philip could be dealing with in order to write his letters.

FBR: How did you start writing?

I have always scribbled things here and there from a young age and the idea for and execution of my first novel was many years in the making and changed many times. I think when I was younger I had a fear of failure and a hang up around class. Working class people like me did not write books. I have always wanted to try it but lacked the confidence. Now, as I have already mentioned, age has played a part and pushed me to give it a try.

FBR: Stylistically, what writers influence you?

I don’t really think any particular writers influenced me or my writing style. I have to confess I do not read as much as I would like, my job and my family take up so much time and when I have time I tend to write rather than read. This is my second attempt at a novel; I haven’t done anything with the first one yet. I am currently reworking it.

FBR: Finally, how hard and what are the pitfalls for getting a book independently published?

I know the book lacks a professional touch and has a few errors but self-publishing was the only option left to me. I have become somewhat frustrated about agents and the way they operate. I have had many positive rejections, so to speak. Agencies seem to only want to take on guaranteed profit making books from the right type of person with the right profile. No matter how good my work might be, I don’t think I fit the required profile. I obviously make very little from the book on Amazon, 57p a sale to be exact but it is not about that. It is about people liking the book. I have had some great feedback and have sold over 300 copies which for me is great.

FBR: Nicholas, thank you for your time. Good luck with the book sales.

 

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Book Review – Pantomime Hero: Memories of the Man Who Lifted Leeds United After Brian Clough (Football Shorts) by Ian Ridley

Ian Ridley is an award-winning journalist and author. His latest venture is Football Shorts which are a series of books in a collaboration between his own publishing company Floodlit Dreams and renowned sports book publisher, Pitch Publishing. Ridley details in the Notes and Acknowledgments that the inspiration of the series came about during lockdown and his desire for a short sporting read. The intention is that there are to be three books a year, with Pantomime Hero: Memories of the Man Who Lifted Leeds United After Brian Clough by Ridley, the first, with the others coming from former Women in Football CEO Jane Purdon and comedian and writer Andy Hamilton during 2023.

This first short is dedicated to Jimmy Armfield and provides, “memories of, and a friendship with one of the most humble and remarkable men to ever grace English football”. Whilst this is a very personal account, and not a biographical look at Armfield’s career, readers come to learn that his entire playing career was spent at Blackpool and he won over 40 caps for England, played in the 1962 World Cup in Chile and was part of the 1966 World Cup winning squad. After retiring from playing in 1971 he became manager at Bolton Wanderers leading them to the Third Division title in 1972/73. Then after the calamitous 44 day reign of Brian Clough at Leeds United, Armfield took the Elland Road job in October 1974.

He was able to galvanise a troubled club and squad after the turmoil of the ill-fated Clough spell and took the team to the European Cup Final in 1974/75 where they controversially lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich in Paris. It was a injustice that rankled with the normally calm and unflappable Armfield. Part of the process during that season and described within the book is how Armfield “came up with a novel and unique idea to restore the morale of a club tearing itself apart” – one which makes sense of the title of this book. Despite taking Leeds to the FA Cup semi-finals in 1976/77 and the same stage in the League Cup in 1977/78, Armfield was sacked in July 1978 and he never managed again, instead turning his hand to a successful media and journalistic career, in the same assured way that he had been one of the best right backs in the World.

These wonderful 160 pages are a real tribute to Armfield, and Ridley has produced a book that has a genuine warmth borne out of their friendship and Ridley’s admiration for Armfield’s talent as player, manager and broadcaster. It is also a very personal story, one that can only sometimes come from a shared experience – in this case, their respective battles with cancer diagnosis and sadly also for Ridley, the loss of his wife Vikki Orvice to breast cancer.

If the shorts from Jane Purdon and Andy Hamilton are as good as this, readers are in for a real treat, in what will become a much anticipated series of books.

(Publisher: Football Shorts. January 2023. Paperback: 160 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Pantomime Hero

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PANTOMIME HERO: MEMORIES OF THE MAN WHO LIFTED LEEDS UNITED AFTER BRIAN CLOUGH (FOOTBALL SHORTS) by Ian Ridley

Jimmy Armfield was one of the great figures of English football – captain of the national team before Bobby Moore, member of the 1966 World Cup-winning squad, one-club man with Blackpool.

Gentleman Jim went on to enjoy a wonderfully rich life and career as a manager with Leeds United, before becoming a broadcaster of warmth and insight, then consultant with the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association.

In Pantomime Hero, award-winning football writer and author Ian Ridley tells the remarkable tale of when Armfield took over at Leeds after Brian Clough’s ill-fated 44 days and came up with a novel and unique idea to restore the morale of a club in turmoil.

Around that amazing tale, Ridley also describes a friendship forged through the bonds of cancer with a giant of a man who was already long established as a national footballing treasure at the time of his death in January 2018.

This is the first book in the innovative Football Shorts series.

(Publisher: Football Shorts. January 2023. Paperback: 160 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Jimmy Armfield

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Book Review – Get Shirty: The Rise & Fall of Admiral Sportswear by Andy Wells

Watching the recent 2022 World Cup there were a couple of things in terms of the fans attending that stood out. Firstly, irrespective of the country, and whether a child or an adult the vast majority were wearing replica shirts creating swathes of colour in the stands. Secondly, despite The FA having signed with Nike in 2012 to produce the England kits, many fans favoured the wearing of retro shirts from before that period. Prominent amongst them were the Three Lions home and away shirts released in 1980 and 1982 respectively, synonymous with the European Championship Finals in Italy and the World Cup in Spain. The design with the distinctive coloured bands across the shoulders was derided by many leading names in the game at the time, but yet over 40 years later are much loved by fans. The original maker of these now classic tops? A Leicester firm called Admiral.

Get Shirty: The Rise & Fall of Admiral Sportswear by Andy Wells tells the story of how the company “helped pioneer today’s multi-billion pound sportswear industry” and “invented the replica football strip and revolutionised the worlds of football finance and street fashion alike.” Wells was the director of the ITV film Get Shirty, and the documentary is the basis for this book, with unused material and interviews seeing the light of day through the pages of the story which is totally open in detailing the meteoric rise and calamitous crash of the company.

Wells uses a traditional timeline within the book to chart the history of Admiral’s predecessor company Cook & Hurst founded in 1908, through to its demise in the 1980s. Cook & Hurst essentially were known as a manufacturer of underwear for the armed forces, but under the ownership of Bert Patrick and Managing Director, John Griffin, wanted to expand the business into sportswear and so began a 1970s revolution that changed the football landscape both on and off the pitch.

Before Admiral came along, replica shirts were only made for children and were essentially generic. So for instance a red shirt with a white colour and cuff could have been a Barnsley, Manchester United or Liverpool top. These were without club badges and manufacturers logos and shirt sponsors were nowhere to be seen. Indeed it wasn’t until 1987 until all clubs had some form of shirt sponsorship.

Admiral’s big break came with what is described in the book as a chance meeting with then Leeds United manager Don Revie in 1973 at Elland Road. Revie was considered a tactical innovator and his vision extended to other areas of club business. He negotiated with Admiral a deal which saw them pay the West Yorkshire side to design kits and tracksuits with Admiral also producing replica kits for the children’s market. The Revie link was to prove invaluable when in 1974 he became England manager with Admiral picking up the contract to provide the Three Lions kit, which they continued to do up until 1984.

The book details how with their vibrant designs and new materials, including the use of the distinctive Admiral logo at every opportunity on shirts, shorts, socks, tracksuits etc. they came to sign up vast numbers of clubs and challenged the bigger more established brands such as Adidas, Bukta and Umbro. It helped too that certain managers were getting a ‘fee’ to ensure that Admiral was the choice of the club and indeed when players realised that some of this money could be channelled their way, they too would put pressure on the club hierarchy to take on the new kids on the block. During the rise it is evident that the Admiral set-up had a real community and family feel to it. Many of the workers interviewed in the book, detailed that those times were the best of their working lives.

However, the reality was that Admiral were punching above their weight, and once the other major firms realised that the replica market was a viable and lucrative business, the writing was on the wall. But it wasn’t just that Admiral were outmuscled by the big boys, Wells is frank in explaining how expansion plans that failed and other poor management decisions also contributed to their demise. Additionally, the situation wasn’t helped as goods could be manufactured abroad far more cheaply in a period which saw the decline of the clothing industry within the country.

Whilst the brand has survived through various licence sales since, those heady days of Admiral’s domination are long gone, but it should never be forgotten that they changed the landscape in terms of kit designs and the replica market we have today.

This is another excellent well researched, engaging and wonderfully illustrated addition to the Conker Editions stable, which once again understands and conveys the importance of history and nostalgia in telling the story of the game today.

(Publisher: Conker Editions Ltd. September 2022. Paperback: 200 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Get Shirty

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THE BOY WHO SAVED BILLY BREMNER by Nicholas Dean

Coventry. 1973. The first day of the school summer holidays. Phillip Knott is 14, a superb natural swimmer and a die-hard Leeds United fan. Phillip has entered a competition in his favourite comic which, incredibly, leads to him receiving a short letter from his all-time favourite footballer and Leeds legend, Billy Bremner. After he is dumped by his girlfriend in favour of an older boy, Phillip writes back to Billy for advice, and gradually an unlikely pen pal friendship develops between the pair, which helps Phillip navigate his difficult home life on a neglected council estate on the outskirts of the city.

Phillip’s dad is a lorry driver, involved in some shady deals and frequently unable to control his temper at home, while his mum is losing her battles with him and with her depression. Philip does his best to protect his younger brother from the arguments and violence and to keep his older sister from shopping his dad and walking out.

The only things that keep Phillip going are his swimming and his letters from Billy, and as Leeds United stretch their unbeaten run from the start of the season to twenty nine games, and Phillip gets to try out for the best swimming team in the city, the pressure on both boy and footballer mounts. But in their unlikely friendship they both find unexpected support and wisdom.

If you loved Spangles but hated your paper round then this is the novel for you. A funny, kind and moving novel which evokes its setting and era with detail and warmth.

 

(Publisher: Independently published. July 2022. Paperback: 532 pages)

 

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Book Review: Birdsong on Holbeck Moor by Billy Morris

This is the third book from Billy Morris, with his debut novel Bournemouth 90 and its follow-up LS92 both reviewed on FBR. The first two are a mix of fact and fiction surrounding the events of Leeds United’s promotion clinching win down at Bournemouth in May 1990 and then picking up with both the club and some of the characters two years later.

For Birdsong on Holbeck Moor readers are taken back to the period in and around the First World War. As the author detailed in his interview with FBR the backdrop to the story is, “a time of upheaval in Leeds…the war is coming to an end, the Leeds Pals were virtually wiped out on the first day of the Somme and families are struggling to cope with the aftermath of that. There is rationing and food shortages and Spanish flu is ravaging the city; At Elland Road Leeds City are struggling to explain how they funded an influx of ‘guest’ players who enabled them to win the 1917/18 League Championship, at a time when match fixing was rife.”

Whereas in his first two books Morris was able to call on his own experiences to provide an authenticity to the writing, in this third book, the author has had to rely more on research about the period to provide the same effect, and once again he succeeds creating a realistic feeling of setting for Leeds in the late 1910’s for his crime fiction.

As ever the writing is tight within this book and Morris manages to juggle the various plotlines effectively. The football content is not as prominent within Birdsong on Holbeck but is an interesting take on events at Elland Road and the brief existence of Leeds City.

They were founded in 1904 and were elected to the Football League a year later and during the First World War became Midland League Champions. However, they were expelled from the Football League during the 1919/20 campaign for illegal payments to players. The Leeds named continued though when Leeds United were founded in 1919 and taking up residence at Elland Road.

The other plotlines centre on a some of the surviving Leeds Pals, back in the city after the war with both facing very different struggles. For Arthur Rowley he returns to Yorkshire traumatised and suffering from shell shock after his experiences in the trenches and struggling to deal with life. Whilst Frank Holleran, feted as a war hero, returns to his ‘businesses’ and finds himself and his family embroiled in a serious issue as a consequence.

Morris captures what must have been a difficult time for Leeds, those returning to it after the war, their families and indeed the city’s football team. The book maybe small in size but delivers a punch.

(Publisher: Independently published. October 2022. Paperback: 175 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Birdsong on Holbeck Moor

 

 

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